UBS has reaffirmed its 'buy' rating and 1,075p price target on Sage, the accounting software group, after rival Intuit set out fresh evidence of momentum in the mid-market.
In morning trading, the shares were up 1% at 1,016.5p.
Intuit used a capital markets day last week to report that its mid-market customer base grew 28% over the year to 449,000, with revenue up 39% to $1.6 billion.
The bank flagged the figures as the most important read-across for Sage investors, given how closely the two compete for larger small-business customers.
Even so, UBS said Sage's own mid-market engine, the Intacct product, showed no signs of stress.
Intacct grew US revenue 26% in the first half to £267 million, an annualised $715 million, plus an estimated $107 million booked elsewhere.
The open question for UBS is how much of Sage's growth has come from converting Intuit's 715,000 QuickBooks Desktop users, and whether that gets harder.
Intuit put the mid-market opportunity at $89 billion, including $30 billion across verticals such as construction and not-for-profit, both important markets for Sage.
It is also spending to defend its turf, lifting mid-market sales headcount 36% last year.
Sage reports full-year results on 19 November.
